


Dr. Honikker!

by Noh



Category: Hello Charlotte (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Injury, Light Body Dysmorphia, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 12:19:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13903887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noh/pseuds/Noh
Summary: At what point would he stop caring about how he looked? Everything from the neck down was mutilated and disfigured beyond repair and there was no changing that. Why would a little dismemberment make it any different? Sure, his job might be a little harder but it wouldn't be impossible. Huxley would whip him up a new arm like he'd done for Florence. No doubt about it. Heck, if he asked, Huxley would probably make him a brand new spanking body!Would he be able to look at himself then?





	Dr. Honikker!

**Author's Note:**

> Based on panel four of this art ( https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DV7mni0W4AAsfgz.jpg ) by the game creator themselves! Just a tiny little thing to get it out of my system. I love these two aaaah.

The familiar scritch-scratch of a pen scrawling across paper and the fluttering of oversized clothing and the calm in the room was enough to make Bennett doze. His head lulled to the side, captured by the serenity of the moment and just as quickly a hand grasped his jaw and snatched him none too gently back to the present. As much as he adored the kid, Felix never let him have any fun.  
  
    "You will be fine in a moment. The damage isn't permanent."

With his attention brought back to what he tried oh so hard to ignore, Bennett looked over his exposed arm in a pensive daze. It was mangled and burnt beyond recognition, the scar tissue twisted this way and that in groves and makeshift hills and craters that he couldn't begin to map out━ but that had been the norm after Huxley had ... cured the plague. Searing the flesh had been the only way to prevent it from spreading and he'd been ready to do just about anything if it stopped the pain.

The missing hand was new, though. He could still feel all his wiggling fingers if he tried hard enough.

     "...Bennett?" His eyes ( all four pairs! ) swiveled to stare at the junior scientist.  
  
The young boy looked _concerned_ , and then uncomfortable with _being_ concerned. Bennett could only grin in response to the constipated look and coughed into his good arm to hide it but with the warning glare he was given, he wasn't successful. Felix wasn't a very open child and Bennett knew better than to do anything that made him feel like it was a mistake feeling anything at all-- but watching him fight himself was like watching a fawn learn to steady its legs.  
  
The worker softened his grin to a smile, lazily cocking his head and letting the tangled mess of 'strawberry' gold he called hair fall over his eyes; all of them. The strands itched against his cheek and sent a harsh flare of irritation crawling across the patch of lingering disease there and he brought up his hand to brush it away━

     His eyes rounded out as he stared at the bloodied stump where his hand once was. "Ah."

     Before either could stop it, his breath was quickening and he broke out in a sweat. It was like this anytime he got injured. Considering his line of work and WHO he worked for, that was pretty often but he still wasn't used to it. Humiliation gripped at him and nausea was a fierce runner-up and there was nothing he could do about it. Weight settled hesitantly on his shoulders and he felt caged as honey-hued eyes swam into his vision. "It's not permanent. Look, it's already regenerating."  
  
That was the problem. He didn't _want_ to look.  
  
At what point would he stop caring about how he looked? Everything from the neck down was mutilated and disfigured beyond repair and there was no changing that. Why would a little dismemberment make it any different? Sure, his job might be a little harder but it wouldn't be impossible. Huxley would whip him up a new arm like he'd done for Florence. No doubt about it. Heck, if he asked, Huxley would probably make him a brand new spanking body!  
  
_Would he be able to look at himself then?_

      **"Bennett!"** As if the scientist could hear his thoughts, he was scolding him. Flinching at the scorn in his voice, Bennett's eyes rolled in his head as they fought to look anywhere but at the boy standing between his legs. He wanted to leap from the table and flee as he felt familiar panic sink its claws into him.  
  
When he would drink his first dose of soap in the morning, the same feeling would grip him. As control slipped through his fingers, the horrible panic would seize his limbs and soap would inevitably fill his lungs until he choked and like clockwork, he was heaving up the first batch into the sink. Blissfully, the second would slide down his throat _much_ easier and the euphoria that raced through his veins was incomparable to any sensation he'd ever experienced.  
  
Here, however, there was none of that relief, yet **all** of the horror.

Fingers intertwined with his own and it was startling enough that his attention darted down to take in the sight. Tiny little fingers - neat and immaculate, perfectly shaped and pale in color - curled around hot pink nubs, freshly grown and new and looking like nothing more than Charlotte's uncooked breakfast sausages. Yuck.  
  
     When he looked up, that constipated look was back tenfold and accompanied with downturned lips. Felix was too young to have so many worry lines already. "You are fine, idiot." Felix inclined his head towards their hands pointedly, "Just look." And he had looked. It was _ugly_.

A horrible noise reverberated through the room and it took a moment for Bennett to realize it was coming from him. A high, wailing keen that mortified him. His shoulders shook and his chest heaved with suppressed sobs, lips pressed thin as he choked on his own tongue. Felix squirmed and through his blurry vision, he could see his forehead wrinkle with a frown. The hand in his own squeezed clumsily, clammy and a smidge too tight. He squeezed back, anchoring himself.  
  
     "You are fine," If Bennett ever wanted to know how to sound harsh yet assuring, he'd know to ask Felix. "I'm your doctor, remember? I said I would not let anything happen to you, dummy." It was a juvenile insult at best ( Felix visibly cringed after it ) and even in his distress it didn't slip by that Felix was softening his attitude as best he could, and the sheer volume of care that displayed startled a laugh out of the engineer. He'd probably scared the hell out of the younger boy but he couldn't stop his guffawing once he started.  
  
     "I'm fine!" Bennett, at last, squeaked around a chuckle, a grin stretching his face in two until it hurt and even then he kept smiling. "I'm fine," he repeated firmly, blinking rapidly to clear up his vision and to drive his point home, he gently squeezed the smaller hand in his. The nerves in his hand felt raw and frayed and he pointedly tried to focus on anything but that. He could feel the mess on his face, grimacing at the thought of having to clean around the eyes on his cheek and meticulously clear the gunk gathered at the corners of each one.  
  
     Felix wiggled away then and gave him something else to focus on, face reddened in mortification and expression pulled tight. "You are fine," he repeated more to himself than anything, directing his eyes to some beakers that'd been shoved aside in his haste to give Bennet somewhere to perch.

     "All thanks to you, Dr. Honikker!" He winked and Felix cringed with a disgusted look, raising a hand to flick his forehead. Bennett whined and rubbed at his head with his fresh hand, lip curled in a pout. "Just Mr. Honikker then! Sheesh."

The boy huffed and ran a hand through his slicked-back hair. Felix turned his eyes to his work again with a faraway hum before he hunched over some papers and went to scribbling nonsense. He stayed close, his shoulder nudging against Bennett's thigh with each rhythmic exhale of breath. The subtle assurance that he wasn't alone made a lump swell in his throat but his eyes remained painfully dry. His gaze shifted back to his hand, wiggling the fingers carefully. Rationally, he was well aware they would've grown back on their own, and yet, he always came running to Felix when he was in trouble. Like himself, the kid was much more inclined to take apart than put together, but nevertheless, he'd listen to Bennett's sob story and fuss until he eventually put _himself_ back together━ literally, sometimes!

     Hm! "Maybe Nurse Honikker instead?"

The pen jabbed into his thigh the very next moment was well deserved despite his wailing protests.


End file.
